Month: June 2016

I’ve been having adventures in resin casting; something I’ve never done before. The first batch of semi-spheres turned out well … except that the shop keeper sold me the wrong mould release for the type of mould I had and the finished piece wouldn’t come out without destroying the mould. Boo!

Not to be discouraged, I did some more research, watched some more videos, and went back to the shop. This time I bought silicone putty to make my own flexible moulds. These turned out much better.

The ring sword on the left there is all set to receive a jewelled pommel. Woo! This has been a really tough build so far and has tested my skills to the max. Watching it evolve has been totally worth it, though.

What else am I up to?

I’ve got a brand new Ouriel and Gabriel cut. (Gabriel’s not cut in this picture but it is all ready for shaping on my table right now.)

And a freshly shaped Jahoel! As some of you may already know, this one is my all-time favourite sword. Happy to be working on one again.

In other news, I may be getting a part time apprentice in the near future to help me out in the shop. That should lessen my work load a bit and let me get the pretties from me to you sooner.

I’ve taken to calling this lovely short sword the “rose sword” as it really reminds me of the thorny stem of a rose. I don’t know yet what name it will be given by the Shadowhunter who designed it. We’ll see!

A sneak-peek at the lighting.

All that needs doing is the handle wrap and it’s ready to go!

Next on the table is an Ouriel and … some resin casting? Ooooh a challenge….

Brand new pretties for you to see! At long last, the elegant beauty of Sariel joins the roster of Seraph Blade models.

Hello there gorgeous! This design is based on the longsword that Isabelle Lightwood uses in The Mortal Instruments movie.

As I’ve babbled on before, you all know that you can’t hide a light inside a fully transparent blade. So we did the next best thing and gave the handle a minimalist leather grip in an unobtrusive shade of white.

The result is rather striking particularly the band of light between the grips.

Hurrah!

Now, what’s this about a new witchlight? It is true! I have improved upon the humble paper mache model I first created.

Looks good, easy to make … but a little on the flimsy side and the opening is really obvious.

Well, we can fix that. And we did! Feast your eyes on this solid plastic “stone”. It’s made of layers (and layers, and layers and oh my god my hand hurts now …) of hot glue a bit of glitter, and some UV-resistant top coat to keep the whole thing from yellowing over time in the sun. Pretty neat all on its own, but in the dark, you can give it a gentle squeeze and …

Tada! The plastic is flexible enough that turning on the press light is pretty easy. (So don’t let it get squished in your suitcase or it will run down the battery.) LEDs last a pretty long time but to change the battery, you only need to slice along the seam with a sharp knife, pop the light out, switch the battery, stuff it back in and re-seal it with a plain old hot glue gun.

The design’s still not perfect and I want to get a working model that you don’t have to cut to open, but it’s surely a step up from the paper and balloon one. 🙂

If you’re interested in a tutorial on how to make this type of witchlight, please feel free to let me know in the comments! If there’s enough interest, I’ll put together something for ya.

That’s all from the Studio for now. Stay safe out there Shadowhunters!